Jay-Z wants to start a family.

The 40-year-old rapper would love to have children with wife Beyonce Knowles after being inspired by close friends Chris Martin and Gwyneth Paltrow, who have kids Apple, five, and four-year-old Moses together.

He said: "They are a really cool family with beautiful kids, who happen to be good at the jobs they do."

Asked if he wanted something similar himself, the '99 Problems' star - who says Apple and Moses call him 'Uncle Jay' - told Q magazine: "Kids? Of course."

Though the music mogul - who dealt drugs in his native Marcy, New York, when he was 13 - is now close friends with the privately-educated Coldplay frontman, he admits it wouldn't have been the case if they had met earlier in life.

He said: "What would I have thought of Chris at 16? That's a different scenario. He couldn't have walked through Marcy. I was a different person then - I wasn't open to the world and different cultures.

"I would have been, 'Yo! Who are you? Give me your money.' You couldn't have a guy like Chris walking through Marcy. He'd have got robbed. At best."

Beyonce has also admitted she wanted to try for a baby this year.

Last July, the 'Crazy in Love' singer hinted she may get pregnant once her year-long tour was over.

She said: "I think I'll have a child when it's supposed to happen. Right now, I'll be on tour for a year and, you know..."